


The Great Annie Caper

by clgfanfic



Category: Alias Smith and Jones
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-21
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 18:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/542740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/clgfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heyes and Curry pull one of their first jobs...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Annie Caper

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Just You, Me and the Governor #2. Published under the pen name Lynn Gill.

          "Hurry up, would ya?" eleven-year-old Jedidiah Curry whispered to his cousin while he rubbed his sweaty palms across the front of his overalls.

          "Shhhh..." Hannibal Heyes whispered back from where he sat, cross-legged, behind the oak desk, inserting the thin blade of his pocket-knife into the lock of the large bottom drawer.  "I've almost got it."

          "That's what you told me ten minutes ago."

          Jed turned his attention back to the office door he held slightly ajar – just far enough to allow him to listen to the progress of Mrs. Sourland as she made her 10 p.m. rounds through the Valparaiso Boys Home.  "She's in the south wing," he informed his cousin.

          Hannibal bit his lower lip and chewed on it for a minute before he jabbed the blade of his pocket knife into the lock again and twisted.  The latch popped, the sound causing him to bounce off the floor when his muscles jerked tight.  He took a deep breath then looked around the side of the desk and grinned at his cousin, glad he hadn't seen how scared he was.  Jed rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

          Hannibal opened the drawer silently and removed the wrapped package that lay on top of the various files and papers.  Shoving the package under his arm, the dark-haired boy carefully closed the drawer and headed to the window they had propped open with an old tree branch.

          "Come on."

          Jed eased the door closed and turned the lock, finally joining his cousin at the open window.

          "You first, I'll close the window," Hannibal instructed.

          Jed shoved one leg out the window so he straddled the sill like a horse.  Squeezing his other leg through the opening he was able to swing around and dangle himself most of the way to the ground, dropping the remaining distance.

          Hannibal tossed the package down to the blond-haired boy and followed Jed's example with the difficulty of additional height.

          Holding onto the sill as best he could, Hannibal kicked his legs to remain in place and pulled the branch free that held the window sill up.  He tossed it over his shoulder, barely missing his waiting cousin.  The sill promptly fell onto his arm.  Jed stifled a giggle while he watched his cousin, dangling, caught on the window ledge.

          "You better hurry up or ol' Sourpuss'll catch ya there like a coyote in a trap," he whispered.

          Hannibal ignored the remark as he yanked his arm free, the window dropping into place with a _thud_.  He let himself drop to the ground, then stood, gently rubbing his arm.

          "I'm gonna get a bruise for sure," he said as he took the package from his younger cousin.

          "Lucky you didn't break it, if you ask me.  See, stayin' small can have its 'vantages.  Now what?"

          " _You_ go back to the room and stand guard again while _I_ go meet Cathy."

          Jed's nose wrinkled at the mention of the girl.  She was the same age as Hannibal, thirteen, and thought Jed was as much fun as whooping cough.  Hannibal insisted the younger boy accompany them on most of their adventures, but she was never happy about it.  On the other hand, she did bestow the older boy with smiles and, more importantly, treats from her mother's kitchen.  Hannibal always saved Jed half, but still she was… a girl.

          "Aw, Hannibal, I get tired of standin' guard all the time.  I'm eleven now, why can't I—"

          "Do you want to go meet Cathy?"

          "No."

          "Well?"

          "Oh, all right, I'll stand guard, but will you bring me back half if she brings you some of her ma's rock candy?"

          "Sure," Hannibal assured his cousin as he led them back along the building until they reached the window of their room.

          The dark-haired boy stooped over, bracing his hands against his knees while Jed scrambled up onto his back and pushed the window open, then wriggled inside.

          "You might be short, but you weigh as much as a horse," Hannibal whispered after Jed grabbed onto the ledge and began to pull himself inside.

          Jed grabbed a fist sized rock from under his bed and propped the window open, stopping long enough to stick his tongue out at his older relative, then went over to the door to see where ol' Sourpuss was.  The north wing, Hannibal had about ten minutes.  Crossing to the window again he turned up the lamp and held ten fingers out the open window.

          Heyes headed off to the small stand of trees that grew near the building.  When the light went off, ol' Sourpuss would be at the top of the hall and Hannibal would have about two minutes to get back into the room and under the covers.  While he waited for Cathy, he wiped the sweat off his palms, rubbing them nervously against his shirt.  Cathy always made him nervous.

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

          "Hannibal?"

          "Over here," he whispered, his heart racing wildly.

          Cathy emerged from the tangle of brush and tree branches.  Her long auburn hair glowed red in the faint light of the lamp and her big green eyes searched his with anticipation.

          "Did you get it?" she asked.

          "Uh-huh."  He held out the package like a trophy.  The young girl took it and carefully unwrapped the brown paper that covered the contents, revealing a handmade doll.

          "Oh, Hannibal, I never thought I'd see Annie again."  She leaned forward and gave him a hug that made his body tingle all over.  When she finished with the hug she kissed him on the cheek, saying, "How can I repay you?  When Tommy Stoddard stole Annie, I was sure he'd burn her, just like he said he would."

          "He was gonna, but Jed and I stopped him before he could."

          "Oh, Hannibal, you're so brave."

          "He wasn't no match for the two of us, even if he is fifteen."

          "He wants me to like him, but he's just mean and dirty."  Her eyes twinkled and she gave Hannibal one of her best smiles, one that had been reserved for her father when she wanted something.  "But you're different; you're so sweet and kind, and handsome."

          Hannibal blushed a deep crimson, glad the near darkness hid the fact from Cathy's crystal green eyes.  "Mr. Matthews took Annie away from Jed and me after Tommy told him _we_ stole her.  I could 'a flattened him!   I knew Mr. Matthews would lock her up in his desk, so me and Jed just snuck in and took her back."

          "Pssttt…"

          "What's that?" Cathy asked, looking around.

          Hannibal looked back at the window and saw his cousin waving at him.  "It's Jed, somethin' must be wrong.  I have to go, Cathy."

          "You have to?"

          "Yep, if I get caught, ol' Sourpuss'll have me in the barn for a whippin' sure as daybreak.  She don't need much of an excuse for that sort of thing."

          Cathy leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.  Hannibal stood, transfixed.  "Well, hurry up then, before you get caught.  I'll bring something special for you to school tomorrow."

          Hannibal swallowed hard and smiled at the young girl.  "I'll see you tomorrow."  He turned and ran for the window, launching himself to grab the sill and twisted inside.

          "Ol' Sourpuss just caught Johnny Mitchell sinnin' again and she's in there right now, tellin' him how he's going to go to hell and whoppin' on him something fierce," Jed explained as Hannibal scrambled through the window.  "She says she's gonna whoop us all."

          "Aw, Jed, Johnny's always sinnin'," Hannibal mumbled as he turned to look back out from the bedroom window.  Cathy was standing at the edge of the trees.  She waved.  Hannibal waved back.  "She won't have the thunder for us all."

          "Oh, come on will ya?" Jed said, dragging him over to his bunk.  "Girls. They're nothin' but trouble.  I'll bet you didn't even get any candy for savin' that stupid doll."

          "Something better."

          "Better 'n candy?  Did ya bring me half?"

          Hannibal smiled at his cousin.  "It wasn't something I could carry, Kid."

          The younger boy snorted and wrinkled his face.  "Kissin', bah."

          The cousins quickly stripped down to their long johns, and Hannibal blew out the light while Jed wriggled beneath the covers of the top bunk.

          They lay in the darkness, pretending to be asleep while Mrs. Sourland's voice continued to echo dully down the hall.  Jed peered over the top bunk.  "Hannibal, what kind of sin do you think Johnny keeps doin'?"

          Hannibal looked up at his younger cousin and thought about the sensations Cathy's kiss had created.  "One you'll know about soon enough, as Grandpa Curry would say, now, lay down, I can hear her comin'."

          Jed gave his cousin a disgusted snort and flopped back on his bunk.

          "Jed?" Hannibal whispered.

          "Yeah?"

          "Thanks for helpin' me rescue Annie.  We make a good team."

          "I still wish Cathy brought us some candy.  Don't seem right, doin' something for nothin'."

          "She's bringin' somethin' to school tomorrow."

          Hannibal's heart raced as he listened to Mrs. Sourland open their door and peer in.

          _One of these days_ , Hannibal thought.  _One of these days we're gonna just up and run away from here.  We are a good team, Jed and me.  We could make it.  Heck, we could rob banks!  Couldn't be no harder than sneakin' around here and not gettin' caught._

          Hannibal listened to his cousin's soft breathing, wondering if he was asleep.  "Jed?" he whispered.

          "Yeah?"

          "Do you like it here?"

          The blond boy's head appeared over the side of the bunk bed, his brow furrowed.  "Course not.  You know that."

          "I wanna leave."

          "Now?  Where'd we go?  It's the middle of the night, besides, I'm hungry."

          "No, not now, but anyplace would be better 'n here.  I was thinkin', next month's my birthday and I'll be fourteen.  That's old enough to get a job workin' cows, or somethin', ain't it?  I wanna run away."

          "Can I come?"

          "Of course, why'd ya think I was telling you?"

          "I don't know.  I thought you might want ta run away with Cathy, instead."

          "Naw, she wouldn't be no good as a guard."

          "That's for sure.  She be watchin' you all the time, instead of the door."

          Hannibal grinned.  "Go t' sleep, Jed."

          A few minutes later the silence was broken.  "Hannibal?"

          "Yeah?"

          "You won't run off and leave me here, will ya?  Without tellin' me?"

          "No, of course I won't.  Like I told you when we left the farm, all we got now is each other."

          "Okay, I'll be your guard then.  When we leavin'?  Can we eat breakfast first?"

          "It won't be real soon.  I got to ponder on it for a while.  We'll need some spare clothes, and some food for that pit of yours, somethin' to carry everything in, a horse or two would be nice…  When I get it all figured out, I'll let you know."

          "Okay."

          "G'night."

          "G'night, Hannibal."

          Severalmore minutes passed, then, "Hannibal?"

          "Yeah?" the dark-haired boy groaned.

          "Can we wait until Cathy gives us some more rock candy?"

          Hannibal smiled in the dark.  "Yeah, Kid, we'll wait that long."


End file.
